Srentha pt I
by Raven's secret-keeper
Summary: This is the explanation part of a twopart story. I won't mention any names, but if you read my other stories, you'll get it. A boy leaves Azarath, following his best and only childhood friend to a land far beyond Azarath's peace and comes back to ashes.
1. Departure

_This is the first part of a two-part story. It's basically the introduction and almost a prologue, but it was too long, so I made it into a dichotomous serious._

_Read and review,_

_**Raven's secret-keeper**_

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_**Srentha!!!**_

_**Chapter 1: Departure**_

A young boy, about age 13 or 14, peered around the golden buildings. His wild, cerulean hair stood out amazingly against the golden streets of Azarath. He nearly tripped on his snow-white robe as he focused his crystal-blue eyes upon her.

She was walking down the deserted street with her head bowed. Because she had pulled up her hood, he couldn't tell if she was ashamed, depressed ,or embarrassed. But he knew something was wrong; no one, or at least almost no one, went down this street.

"She knows where it leads to, right?"he asked himself quietly as he stealthily followed her, being careful to not let her see him.

He wanted to call to, but she had told him many times that Raven shouldn't be startled, and they were so similar…

_Just as I thought. Surely she can't be heading – okay, so she is._ She turned left into the temple and pulled down her hood.

He moved around a few statues to be able to see her face. She was almost in tears.

_What's getting **into** her?!_ he wondered desperately as she headed deeper into the temple. _She **knows** the rule… There's no going back.. Well, more appropriately **coming** back… _He desperately wanted to comfort her, to ask her what's wrong. But he wasn't even supposed to _be_ here; he was supposed to be in the temple, yes, but with all the rest of Azarath where the eternal flame once burned two or three years ago, not following her in the halls, and if he made any noise, they might be discovered.

_Who would be here? Who could know? _He ridiculed himself, realizing that the guards and priests weren't even there. _Wait… okay, that's not normal… Then again, what today is?_

His thoughts reverted back to the girl. _Oh, come **on**! What in Azar's name do you think you're doing?! You told me just yesterday that nothing would make you want to leave!_

He was really, desperately hoping that she wasn't serious. She wasn't going to do this, she was going somewhere else.

But this hall led to nowhere else.

_Come on! Be sensible! Remember how Juris-_ He sighed to himself. There were about a million differences in the situations.

His small spark of hope was extinguished when she came to the Forbidden Door.

_No, no, **no!** How could you? Come on, no!_

Then she muttered something that caused his anger and frustration to melt away.

"Good-bye, Azarath."

He put his hand on the corner of the wall. He _had_ to follow her. And he couldn't understand why she was leaving.

She pulled open the door revealing an infinite space. She chanted a few inaudible words, then stepped through the doorway and in a flash of white, she vanished, the door still hanging itself open.

And he held his breath, his last chance of hope that she would change her mind... But she didn't.

Had she been banished? No, she couldn't've been. No one even knew her! But why else?

He pondered for about ten minutes before he resolved to follow her. He stepped out of his hiding place, summoned all of his knowledge, and stepped through the door.

A tunnel of swirling energies surrounded him. It seemed like he was being carried through water. Glowing, swirling, rapidly-running, periwinkle water.

It fascinated him. He had never traveled the dimensions before. He was trained to know how, but he completely lacked experience.

He tried to focus on his destination – follow her. His best and only childhood friend. But then he realized that he had just betrayed everything he had ever known. But he had to follow her – today's events didn't matter. Without her, he'd feel so… well, just so. So everything.

His heart was torn in that instant: her or his home?

_Oh, I'm so stupid! I can't go back. Oh Azar… Guess that narrows down the options…_

Within a few moments of time, he felt the strange and indescribable sensation that he knew was being torn between time and space. An almost inhuman sound was heard as he pierced the dimensional barrier and a flash of white light flared up.

He ended up in a crouching position and looked around as his vision cleared.

And he stood up on Earth.

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_**-Raven's secret-keeper**_


	2. Lost

_Read and review,_

_**Raven's secret-keeper**_

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_**Srentha**_

_**Chapter 2: Lost**_

The tunnel was replaced by the grayness of Earth. He looked around and found it hard to adjust himself to the dull buildings, especially after the temple and the bright tunnel. And he looked up and noticed that he could only see one sun.

Strange scents filled his nostrils. He suddenly felt the pressure of displacement crushing him. It suddenly occurred to him that this place wasn't at all like Azarath.

_I can't believe I did that… Oh, this is bad. Wait, yeah I can. I followed her… Hey, where is she?_

He looked around more carefully.

_Not much to see in his dark alley... Guess I still have a bit to learn._

He walked forward and turned left until he emerged from between the two buildings. He felt a bit of relief once he was out of the darkness, but it wasn't the warm, peaceful, almost glowing feeling he now realized he had felt in Azarath. In fact, it was nowhere close. He could easily sense many not-so-pacifist energies in these people and he couldn't help feeling a bit uncomfortable about it.

He sighed and looked around, noticing exactly how different the streets were. He remembered what Arella had told him about this other-dimensional world… Being the high magistrate's grandson, he was able to talk directly to her while she was on temple duty. It was very different and not nearly as contenting, she told him, and now he knew exactly what she had meant all those times she had talked to him.

As he walked on, the noise of the cars sort of startled him. The closest he had ever heard was when one of the doves would fly past his head, and as for the engines, he couldn't have possibly guessed what it was. Azarath was far too small to need any more than two feet to get around.

He heard a "coo-cooo" noise. It was all too familiar, but lower and softer than he would think. He looked around hopefully, and he heard it again and saw where it came from with a sinking heart. It was a bird the resembled a dove in body shape, but it was too big and far too colorful to be the bird he hoped. Then he heard a dog howl and the bird fluttered away. Not knowing what else to do, he continued on.

As he walked, he became aware of odd glances the people on the sidewalks were giving him. Once more, a wave of displacement and regret fell upon him. As he looked back at the other people on the streets, he realized that they were staring at his appearance. Most of the source of wonder seemed to be his mass of hair and his robes; they were staring anywhere but his face.

He just kept meandering the streets of this city until he eventually came to an area of green fields and open areas. People sitting under the trees stared – since he had been here, who didn't? – as he passed by. He walked by a group of girls and one of them whispered to the others and they giggled before speaking inaudibly.

"Oh, where are you?" he whispered desperately, really feeling that he stood out. His pure white robes, his untamed blue hair, and his amazingly blue eyes, he began to understand, were weird, abnormal, strange, ridiculous things here.

He continued to wander the grassy area for quite awhile. Spotting a bench with nobody else on it, he sat down and rested and tried to think of how he would manage to find her. His stomach gurgled and he put his head in his hands. He hadn't eaten since a couple of hours before he left his home, and that was a long while ago. He looked to the sky, but then remembered where he was – **_not_** Azarath. He began rubbing his sore legs with a heavy sigh.

_I can't believe this... I left the place of anyone's dreams to follow her, and I can't even find her._

He looked at his hands, wondering if he knew anything that could help him.

_I know the spell, but it's way to hard…_

He blinked miserably and closed his eyes.

_Well, what's done is done… and I need to find some food._

The boy sighed and hung his head before getting up. _All I need to do is figure out where._ He began walking without destination once more and headed away from the green and back into the city.

His stomach growled again and he looked skyward with a slight moan. _How long have I been here? _He looked around at the buildings surrounding him. _They're all so dull… And the sky... Is it always this color? Looks like my eyes. Sky-blue eyes. Didn't someone at the grassy place call my eyes that? Hey, whoa, focus here. Food, food, I've gotta find food… _

He walked a little bit more, then he saw something glinting in the sun and jogged to it. Curiosity overwhelmed him as he looked at the strange copper object. He flipped the circle over in his fingers and fingered the grooved edges. There was a man engraved on the surface and a columned building on the other side. He shrugged and decided to carry it around. Maybe he could watch other people and figure out what it was for.

He couldn't help noticing that there were a few places with food, but everyone had to trade paper money to get the things they needed. In Azarath, they never had much use for money…

As sharp-eyed as he was, he couldn't find any of the green paper around, and he gave up a lot faster than he usually did – everything that was happening was starting to fray his nerves.

He nearly tripped on someone sitting in the corner with glasses and a blanket.

"Oh, sorry," he stammered awkwardly, barely avoiding speaking in Azarathean.

"It's fine," the man replied.

The boy nodded. He cocked his head thoughtfully, but figuring out why this person had a cup, ragged clothes, and was just sitting here was out of his abilities.

The man picked up the cup and asked, "Do you have any spare change?"

The boy peered into the cup and saw a few more of the circles he found on the ground inside it, only some were a silvery color and there were different sizes. Putting two and two together, he dropped the circle into the cup. "Well, it's not much…"

"Oh, that's alright. God bless!"

"Heh heh, bless you… too…" He was baffled by the suddenly religious conversation.

"Have a nice day."

"Um, you too." He had noticed people all over exchanging these phrases as a way of saying good-bye and left, a hint of confusion showing on his face.

As he began looking at the people individually, he noticed how varied they were. There was plenty of variety in Azarath, but not like this. The outfits were a million different colors, many people had body jewelry, and he saw a couple of people with possibly the craziest hairstyles he had ever seen.

The pigeons were constantly underfoot and were starting to get annoying. Sure, the doves would walk on the streets sometimes, but they were on the buildings most of the time.

A grunt of frustration escaped him. With all his experience, he should have been able to find her with a thought. And to get an average Azarathean, especially him, upset was an incredibly difficult task.

He wandered aimlessly for a long time before he realized that it was growing dark. With a heavy sigh of grief more than frustration, he realized that he'd have to put his search for his friend on hold and find a place to sleep. He decided on the patch of grass he'd seen a few moments (or maybe minutes or hours) ago. He backtracked until he found it, then he lay down on it. It wasn't exactly perfect, but it was isolated, dark, and quiet.

He stayed there silently for a while, feeling horribly guilty and missing Azarath with all his heart. This world was loud, unfriendly, not peaceful, overall unpleasant. And it definitely disagreed with his own pacifist mind.

He closed his eyes; he hadn't been able to find any food and he was amazingly hungry. He was incredibly lost, mentally and physically. There were no spellbooks to search, no ancient scrolls to consult, and he missed the essence of magic that was constantly lingering anywhere in his homeland. An unexpected tear formed in the corner of his eye. He tried feverishly to blink it away, but it fell to the grass. He sighed. He was too tired to full-on cry, but tears were falling from his eyes as he rolled onto his back.

He gazed at the stars, flooded in fascination for a fraction of a second at the white specks of light in the sky, like a pinch of glitter on a navy-blue or indigo blanket. But only for a short moment. Then thoughts of the golden streets overcame him. Continuous thoughts ran through his mind again and again and never ceased.

When he finally drifted to sleep, he was walking down the comfortingly familiar streets and he entered the temple. But there was only a black infinity, yet somehow he was walking on solid ground. Neon swirling colors surrounded him. Confusing him and leading him astray. He never escaped it…

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_**-Raven's secret-keeper**_


	3. Return

_Read and review, _

**_Raven's secret-keeper _**

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**_Srentha pt. I _**

**_Chapter 3: Return _**

When he woke up, it was incredibly bright. He closed his eyes tighter and shifted his position. He sat up and looked around –

A yelp escaped him as he saw a large dog watching him .And it didn't look too happy. The dog flattened it ears farther against its head and growled deeply, a sure threat and sign of oncoming aggression.

_What the-?!_ He couldn't help thinking it as he bolted up and stumbled back. "Easy," he mumbled in hopes of calming it down.

It only took a step towards him and let out a deep, threatening bark.

"Hey, it's–"

The dog lunged at him and he screamed and dodged it. Azaratheans weren't exactly warriors, but he had good reflexes from catching so many falling containers and blocking his eyes against blinding flashes. "Calm down! Please? I'm not going to hurt you - !" It ran at him and he barely managed to evade it. This time it didn't stop and turned and ran straight at him.

He tried remembering what his friend had told him whenever there was a problem with the doves, but all he recalled was her holding them and stroking its back as she mumbled comforts to it, patiently waiting for the frightened bird to calm down.

"Something tells me that won't work," he muttered ads he turned into another street. The dog was getting closer. He turned again and turned around a building. The dog turned and he could here it sniffing.

"Oh, Azar help me," he mumbled breathlessly in desperation.

An idea flashed through his mind, but he shook his head at it. Then the dog took a step closer to his hiding spot.

"Please forgive me," he whispered. He knew he wasn't supposed to do it and he wasn't supposed to care about death if avoiding it disrupted the inner pacifism, but that's one of the things that set him from the others in Azarath. He actually valued his life over peace. Still, he was nervous. This could turn deadly if he didn't do it.

He closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath before he muttered a spell as he waved his arms in a short yet intricate pattern. For a moment he was encased in a blue-gold iridescent glow, then it glittered away into nonexistence. He looked at his hands and sighed. He couldn't see himself.

He was incredibly nervous; he knew he was _not_ supposed to do it. He had deliberately disobeyed the rules about this gift. _But-_

A soft growl from the dog brought him back to reality. He bit his lip and stepped softly away. He couldn't stay; he wasn't fully powerful and experienced, so it would wear off very soon. His heart pounded hard in his chest from nerves at breaking the rules and fear for his life. He took care to make as little noise as possible, and he prayed that the thuds weren't nearly as loud as they felt.

Fortunately, he had a _lot_ of experience with stealth from sneaking off with the girl so many times and the dog didn't notice him as he crept further behind the buildings and into another alley. Just to be sure, he turned whenever the opportunity presented itself, and he couldn't help glancing over his shoulder every so often.

After a few more turns, he felt a small tingling sensation and looked at his hand. His invisible body was outlined by what seemed like golden glitter, then it faded to a blue glow as his body slipped back to visibility and the glow dissipated completely.

The boy sat down on an unfolded box in the alley to catch his breath. _It's far too early for this…_ His exhaustion was only made worse by the fact that he hadn't slept very well last night. Definitely not for the first time and probably not the last, he mentally slapped himself for even leaving. _Why why **why?!**_ _I should've just called out and asked her where she was going. I still don't have enough power to follow her exactly… Azar, why did I leave? Why did I **have** to be sneaky about it and – she wouldn't have even cared if I startled her! And it's not like it would have mattered… No one else was there. The whole place was empty! Except for the room where the Eternal Flame used to be… But – _

An amazingly familiar coo startled him out of his desolations. "Wha-?!" It was actually a dove, not a pigeon. He jumped up and looked around for all he was worth. Then he saw the bird perched on top of the building. "Janellera!" The bird had been his friend since he put the spell of intelligence on him and the girl's companion; the girl had found the dove playing together with her "pet" and he had charmed the two doves in his eagerness to show her his new knowledge. That spell was now old and simple to him, but at the time it had been amazing. "Thank Azar – how did you…?" The dove flew down and landed on his head. "Why are _you_ here?" The bird cocked its head at his voice. "I think a change of name is appropriate… How's Survivor?" The dove nestled itself into his hair, then the boy put his finger under the bird's breast and the clawed toes stepped gingerly onto it.

"Survivor it is, then." He brought his arm down and began stroking the bird's back. "I wonder how you made it… Did you follow me?" The dove blinked. "Alright… Hey, I'm not mad at you!" A hint of laughter trickled into his voice, then he sighed. "It's nice to see something familiar around here… I haven't been able to do much besides walk and save myself from an angry dog." He put his finger against his shoulder and the bird stepped onto it. "You look content… Stopping by the bird feeders, I see?" The dove turned around and settled into a satisfied position. "If only they had those for people… I wonder if they do… only more private. Everyone stares at me." The newly-named Survivor tilted his head. "Yeah, _you_ listen, don't you? I'm glad _some_one does." The dove's blink seemed almost inquisitive – being charmed, it was a distinct possibility. "There's just no one else to talk to. I've been alone for a lot longer than I've ever been, and I'm so lost that I don't know if I'll ever be _un_lost." The dove watched him for a moment more before repositioning himself and cooing. The boy winced. "Not so close to my ear!" The bird looked at his face before fluttering onto his head again before sending out more "coo-coo-oo-oo"s. "What are you looking for?" The bird turned around and let out another call before shifting his wings, showing the golden mark on his back. "The other dove?" The bird head-bobbed before turning again and cooing.

Being a male, the calls were loud and would carry farther than if Survivor was female, but the boy had a feeling that it was still a futile attempt. "You know you're not going to find them, right?" The dove ignored him. "Oh, shut up already…" His relief was wearing away and being replaced by grief for the fact that he had lost his friend, and she, probably along with her pet dove, would be far out of the range that his powers could detect, even if he used the most powerful spell he knew. The dove didn't seem to care that it was futile and just kept on cooing. The boy sighed before walking on, this time with a noisy bird on his head.

_If they thought I was weird before…_

He couldn't help smiling in spite of himself. _Maybe this isn't as bad as I thought…_

But then his stomach gave off a strong growl, and he moaned. _Or maybe not. _

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The two walked on and on for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually the dove's coos faltered and soon they stopped completely; it seemed the boy wasn't the only one losing hope.

"You think maybe they went back...?" He sighed softly. The dove shifted his feet and looked around. "Maybe they're just... Oh, who am I kidding? They're not here. If they were, I'd be able to sense her presence." The dove made a small, hardly audible sound and then began grooming himself. The boy glanced up at him, then raised an eyebrow. "Guess you don't really care about your soon-to-be mate?" The dove poked its head around his hair and eyed the boy curiously. "You know..." The dove blinked and clicked his beak. The boy chuckled. It was nice to be able to have a bit of fun, even in such a desperate situation. "It's a shame you two could never truly get together... Maybe we can _all_ be together when we find them - if..."

The boy felt another particularly sharp hunger pain, then he growled at himself in impatient frustration. "Why didn't I think of it before...?" He sat down before closing his eyes - the dove watched him in fascination; it could sense the magical force growing as the boy chanted a few words and swallowed, then mumbled a few extra phrases and opened his eyes.

"It didn't work..." He stood up and bowed his head dejectedly. Glancing up at the bird, he noticed a quizzical glint in the amber eyes as if they were wondering, 'what in Azar's name was the point of that?' "I don't know why I tried that... I can do transformations with the Azarathean materials, but I'm not strong enough to just pull things out of mid-air. Coman said it would take at least two more years of solid practice -"

An idea flew through his mind so swiftly that he almost forgot it. "What if they _did_ go back to Azarath... but if they didn't, at least I won't starve..." Praying to dear sweet Azar that he did have some of it, he dug through the folds of his robes that almost formed pockets for the white powder. "Petals, liquids, no, where did I throw the powders...? Ah!" Overjoyed at his first victory over fate in two days, he pulled the small bottle of the grainy and glittering blue-white powder and uncorked it. Survivor shifted in confusion, then looked at the powder in the boy's hands and understood what was going on...

"We're going back to Azarath." The boy pushed the open boxes out of the way and sat down before pouring an unsmooth circle of the substance around himself and putting the small bottle back. The boy tried to focus his mind on the image of his home and aroused the magical energies that lived within him. He expelled a breath, then tried to expunge his nerves and excitement. He closed his eyes and chanted the words of a spell for dimensional travel that all of Azarath had known the secrets to for well over a century: "Acarazom racashaz endre, vacarix endrien... Azarath, _Azarath! **Azarath**!_" Sparks of energy flickered up from the circle, then a swirling vortex of spiraling white and bright blue colors opened beneath his body. The last few words came out as an almost yell, and the boy felt himself being taken into the portal and the dove braced himself - instincts told him to fly away as fast as his wings could flap, but the charmed part of his intelligence reminded him of the bond he had with the boy, so he stayed put and gripped the boy's hair as tightly as his toes would allow. They were pulled into a waterfall of the swirling colors, and the boy couldn't help noticing that it seemed duller than it was on his first journey through this portal - He forced that from his mind and focused on arriving in his homeland instead of some other dimension, and Azar knows where he could end up if _that_ happened.

After a few moments of anxious anticipation, there was a blinding flash of white light, then the boy stood up and his eyes widened. He collapsed to his knees and blinked, hardly able to comprehend it. Instead of the golden streets he remembered, there was nothing but ashes and ruins. Instead of the once-sweet air filled with a scent of gossamer, there was a strangely thick atmosphere filled with a lingering smell of sulfur so strong it made him dizzy at first. "No…" _What exactly **happened **__here…?I knew it was supposed to be bad, but… Is **this** what everyone knew was going to happen? Why didn't… _

He swallowed, still partly in shock. _I bet that this is why she left… she was fleeing Azarath's destruction._

The dove fluttered down and landed on the blackened ground. He tapped his feet a few times, then flew back onto the boy's hair.

The boy's eyes followed the bird as he did this, then his senses slowly returned to him. "What's wrong?" His voice was weak and a bit shaky. He put his finger in front of the dove and Survivor stepped onto it. Wondering why the dove seemed tense, he put his hand on the ground and felt a bit of heat radiating from it.

Looking farther ahead, he saw a river of molten lava flowing over the destroyed remains of the once glorious land. He stood up and couldn't help wondering if anything had survived the destruction.

"Well…" He chuckled nervously. "I guess Raven showed up yesterday… huh?" The bird didn't seem to be listening. "They told me this would happen… hm… Duh. Why didn't she tell me she was – she probably knew there wasn't time… I think I might've left right before it happened." He looked around and sighed. "I don't know what to do…"

The dove looked up at his face. The boy wasn't surprised to see a confused hurt in the dove's amber-gold and black eyes.

"Azarath's gone, Survivor. We're probably the only one's left, besides them…" The bird knew exactly who he meant and looked around again. "I wonder where Raven went..." Survivor either didn't hear him or didn't care as he stared off into the distance. "Should we go back to Earth and -?" The bird fluffed up his feathers. "You didn't like it there? Well, okay… I probably need a lot of time to practice before I try to find her anyway." The dove's appearance smoothed out. "You're going to drive me into insanity with your cooing, _aren't_ you…" The bird cocked his head. The boy shrugged. "At least we won't be so lonely." He smiled awkwardly and the dove settled on his finger. "At least here, it won't be so hard for me to do – once I get used to this…" He glanced around uncomfortably.

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**_-Raven's secret-keeper_**


	4. pt II teaser

**_Keep in mind, this was only an explanation! _**

_**Check out part two of this story! Coming VERY soon!** _

_**Srentha pt. II: **Srentha finally goes back to Earth after six unbearably lonely years in Azarath and ends up a special visitor… _

_Thank you for reading, _

**_Raven's secret-keeper_**


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